Perianne is the CEO of Boring & Company, LLC, a financial services technology consulting firm. She served as an economic analyst in network broadcast news. Prior Perianne was a legislative analyst on Capitol Hill advising on economic, tax, and health care policy. She graduated with a degree in business and economics from the University of Florida. As a free market advocate, she also writes about macroeconomics and consumer finance.

The Boring Bitcoin Report: May 19-26

Laureate Trust, a California hedge fund, estimates that bitcoin will surpass PayPal transaction volumes later this year. PayPal processes about $315 million transactions per day. Bitcoin is processing close to $300 million a day. In addition the hedge fund says that even with the recent price rally, it’s still a good time to buy bitcoin at $522.

One-third of Kenyans now have access to bitcoin wallets through the popular mobile payment service M-Pesa. While not everyone is using bitcoin yet, Kipochi is offering a service that allows M-Pesa users to now use bitcoin. Further, an internet service is not necessary, just an ordinary phone and Kipochi account. The implications of this could be HUGE – the remittance market is a trillion dollar industry. This service could obviate money wiring all together.

The Sun Times is going to print QR code advertisements in the newspaper that will allow Jay-Z and Beyonce fans to purchase concert tickets in bitcoin. This initiative could be a use case that changes the way print media advertises, allowing advertisers to sell directly to customers. The Sun Times began accepting bitcoin in April and has seen 11% of new subscriptions paid in bitcoin.

McCaleb announced that in the coming weeks he would be selling his large stake of XRP and would be donating some to charity. The move would double the amount of available XRP in the market which has caused the price of Ripple to fall significantly upsetting XRP holders. XRP’s critics have pointed out that this is one of the main reasons to avoid pre-mined alt-coins; however, early adopters of bitcoin hold a sizable stake in BTC and if they were to sell off it would cause a stir in the market. One can only wonder if McCaleb is cashing out while the price is relatively high. He is heavily invested in Bitcoin related startups like Bitstamp and is said to have one startup in the works.

The Week Ahead:

This week we are watching the SEC v Shavers case in Texas. The SEC is accusing Shavers for running a bitcoin ponzi scheme and has imposed sanctions against him. If sanctions are granted, Shavers will not be allowed to present a defense in court and would be found automatically liable – unless he meets this Friday’s case-filing deadline.

According to F. J. Seibert Law, if the SEC prevails in this case, it would establish a precedent that says anyone exchanging bitcoin could be selling securities, thus subject to SEC regulation, scrutiny, investigation, and legal action. This could have serious consequences the bitcoin community.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.